Beginnings
by not-here-leave-a-message
Summary: Life begins anew, but for this new life...means first, a death. And Katara knows that all too well. Part 3 of 3 is finally up!
1. Proud

_Wow, hello again! It's been too long. And hello new fandom! I've had some ideas floating around in my head for a while so decided to write them down, essentially. This will be a three-part story, as is my wont. Both of the parts after this one will have to do with this one, so I will be publishing them on the same story. _

**This chapter was inspired** _partially by this post_ (**_only7korrafanarts . tumblr post / 24990201914 / i-couldnt-resist_**) _and, a little more heavily inspired by this post_ (**_isaia . tumblr post / 22438805457 / self-soothing-fanart-of-little-korra-with-her_**). _Please do yourself a favor and check them out, if you haven't already! Therefore, most of the main ideas in this chapter aren't originally my own, nor are the characters. The Naga headcanon (which will make more sense in the next chapter), which I believe we all have some version of, is, however, mine._

_That being said, enjoy!_

* * *

She was absolutely rambunctious, a trait undoubtedly from his side of the family. Senna no longer had time to fix her hair or help prepare kins, or tidy the house or even cook, really. Between the two of them they were lucky enough to sleep a full night before their young but energetic toddler was up and about, at the ass-crack of dawn. If she wasn't so damn cute, if she wasn't such a reflection of him, and if she didn't pass out in the strangest of places, at the strangest of times, he would have (maybe) been mad. Even with all of the constant running around, the quick naps caught between taking care of her and making sure she didn't accidentally blast a hole in the ice outside of their home and fall into freezing cold waters, it seemed even Senna couldn't really be mad at Korra, just slightly frustrated and completely dumbfounded on the girl's seemingly endless energy.

It made Tonraq proud, really. His daughter was going to give the whole world hell when she grew up, and he wouldn't have it any other way. He often, in a bid to give Senna time to rest and perhaps feel somewhat normal again, took Korra out onto the ice and snow to teach her how to fish, to teach her some of the Southern water tribe's customs, tell her some of its stories, and generally educate her. Of course, he would sometimes turn it all into a game: keeping the attention of a toddler like Korra wasn't an easy task, but it was one he knew how to handle, becoming animated and using voices to keep Korra's eyes glued to him. Occasionally, he would use his bending. And every once and a while, he would teach a bit to Korra.

She was an extremely fast learner, for her age. As soon as she started walking and talking, they started going on these little excursions (where she dragged her own sled, happily showing off some of Tonraq's strength, another source of pride for him), and Tonraq explained to her that there was a good chance that she would be a waterbender, like him. And the huge grin on her face when he showed her what that looked like….something as simple as forming a snow ball with his hands, melting it, swirling it around in the air and forming it into a snowball again, told him that he had his daughter's attention. He tried to incorporate waterbending as often as he could into his stories and teachings. He bent the water around fish, explaining to her the importance of the fish meat and the animal itself to the Southern Water Tribe, as well as the fishing technique with water bending: how Master Katara, who Korra had only briefly met, had started learning her waterbending this way, how it was important to let the water flow around the fish, as though it was still swimming. How it was important to only trap the fish they needed, and no more. These lessons were sucked up into the little vacuum that was his curious little daughter. She stared with wide-eyes and insisted on doing whatever it was her father was doing. Even if she didn't get the bending the first time, she had the motions down by the end of their first three-day trip.

And she had the bending down by the end of the third. He'd had some kind of tip-off from Katara, who was kind enough to read their baby's aura before she was born, that Korra would be a bender (though Katara never actually said the words). He remembered the look on Katara's face, grave, actually, her hand on Senna's expanded belly.

"She's powerful," was all Katara said, offering Tonraq a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. He wasn't sure, at the time, why she was so affected, but both he and Senna were so happy with the news that he hadn't really taken any notice of the matriarch's reaction. Only when it came time for the birth did he consider the expression, wondering as his wife was in labor for hours if it was something he should have worried about.

But everything with the birth went fine. The healers who delivered her called Tonraq in and he saw, for the first time, his new baby girl, whose frame was already strong, and her blue eyes clear, a dark tuft of hair matted to her forehead. He'd realized that Katara was right: he could feel it as he held this tiny little girl, he just knew: she was strong. Maybe it was just the feeling of pride that overtook him, looking at his daughter, but he just knew she was destined for great things.

And he hadn't been wrong! He'd made a mental note, as they walked back from that second long trip out onto the frozen tundra, to speak with Senna about Korra's bending. It was already amazing. Korra'd managed to catch a fish (a small one, but a fish nonetheless) on that trip, spinning it in a clumsy ball of water that was consistently wobbling all over the place. By their sixth excursion, she'd managed to not only control the water and catch a decent-sized fish, but she'd also broken the ice to get to it, something he hadn't taught her and that startled him completely, when he heard the crack and the happy "Got one daddy!" And on the seventh excursion, when Korra blasted a hole in the ice (somehow), was when Tonraq and Senna had to keep a much closer eye on her when she was at home. And that was no easy feat.

Somehow, and he wasn't sure to this day how, they lost Korra for a moment. If he was being honest, they lost her more times than they could count, but she generally turned up a few moments later. But one day, she didn't, and they became worried when after a few minutes of silence, they realized there was no possible way that Korra was hiding in the house or in the near vicinity. She liked to play hide and seek, especially once she realized it gave her parents a heart attack, if she could stay quiet longer than thirty seconds (which wasn't often). But that day had been different. She'd been disappearing on and off, for the better part of a week at that point, and though they'd not thought much of it, the prolonged silence on that day made them worry immediately. Though they'd learned to be extremely vigilant parents, sometimes they just couldn't keep up with their little ball of energy. And Tonraq was out the door immediately after they searched every nook and cranny of the house, calling Korra's name the whole time, and found nothing.

After working all of their neighbors into a frenzy, and trying not to panic themselves, Tonraq spotted his daughter, holding tightly onto something that was her size, easily, and waddling with it towards him in the afternoon light. She couldn't have been gone for more than a few hours, but it had honestly been some of the longest hours of his life. He was angry, relieved, scared, frustrated, and utterly confused. His fatherly instinct was to yell, but that was dropped immediately when he realized his fearless, stupid daughter was carrying a polarbear dog cub, nestled close to her chest, half-dragging the poor thing through the snow.

"Daddy, it's sad and sick and it was alone! Can we keep it?"

He had been rendered utterly speechless. He had no idea how his daughter had found a polarbear dog cub, let alone managed to drag it all the way home (they were not light creatures, even at such a young age). It had indeed been sick, probably left by its mother after a storm, though how Korra had managed to keep it alive, he had no idea. How she even managed to find it, he had no idea and he didn't pretend like he did. Korra got a talking to by just about everyone in the village, about how she should never, ever go off alone like that, and the dangers, especially of a wild polar bear dog.

But Korra insisted it wasn't wild, it was her friend, and she'd been taking care of it ever since she found it, though she was vague on those details when pressed ("I found her!" being the only response to Tonraq's persistent "How?!"). Tonraq tried to explain that when it was healthy again, it wasn't going to think of her as a friend, and if it's mother came looking for it, she had put the whole village in danger, but Korra was adamant about the dog's nature and refused to let it go, calling it Naga and stubbornly sitting outside with it even as night fell. Tonraq didn't see her do it, but at some point she water-bent them a little shelter (Tonraq had taught her on their third excursion that an ice or snow shelter helped to block wind and keep the temperature cold, but prevent the people inside from being too cold) and had started a fire.

After much debate with Senna, and indeed, much (neither of them got any sleep that night, between arguing and taking turns looking after Korra), Tonraq decided that he would camp in the direction Korra had come from and make sure there was no mother looking for her cub. After a week of nothing, he returned to Korra sleeping peacefully in her bed, the animal curled up next to her, and a sheepish Senna saying the cub had barely eaten and it seemed better to take it inside, and that Katara had come by to see what all the fuss with the neighbors was about. Though Tonraq's word as the chief was law, Katara's word would always outrule his, simply because she was the true guide of the water tribe, and Tonraq knew to respect his elders, let alone one such as Katara, who had helped shape the very society they now lived in. As such, though Katara wasn't actively running the tribe, she still made it her duty to know what was happening with her people, and hubbub about a polarbear dog in their presence wasn't going to go uninvestigated.

In a surprising twist, Katara had apparently smiled at little Korra and her polarbear dog, and told Senna that the cub would do no harm to Korra. It was weak and in need of the nourishment Korra was offering, as well as perhaps it offering her something similar in the future. The last part was cryptic, but Senna figured if Katara thought it was safe, then Tonraq would too. He didn't exactly think it was safe, but he begrudgingly allowed the animal to stay, though once Naga was healthy, he insisted on her staying outside.

And, he hoped, really, after his daughter had brought home and started to train a _polarbear dog_, that maybe his daughter could take it easy for a while with the surprises. But, of course, she was his daughter, and she was nothing if not persistent in her quest to make Tonraq apologize to his parents in his head if he had been even a fraction of the terror his child was. He loved her dearly, but he could already feel his hair turning grey, though that didn't stop him from being proud of his little girl, or keep him from preparing for another excursion with her. He was torn about whether or not to take the polarbear dog, which had already grown considerably, though he hadn't thought of a way to tell Korra that she might not be able to bring her new pet. On the one hand, he figured she might not mind: that way, they could focus on her bending, which he made a mental note to speak with Katara about, to see if they could get her into training with the older master. But on the other hand, the bond Korra had already with Naga was strong, and he knew in a way he was powerless against it, though he wasn't sure why he knew. Just a feeling. But that didn't stop him from whistling along to a Watertribe song, a Northern one, as he packed the skins and wrapped blubber nuggets to take with them. Korra watched from where she was perched atop a chair, looking eager.

Tonraq had just finished packing the matches when Korra said, "Mommy, Daddy, I'm a firebender!"

To which Tonraq chuckled, and Senna too, from where she was packing a few extra water skins on the couch. "Of course you are, Korra!" he said affectionately, jokingly going along with his daughter's absurd declaration.

"Wanna see?!" she asked, excitedly, to which both he and Senna nodded.

"Of course!" her mom said, amused, "Show us honey!"

"Okay…" Korra said, trailing off. She jumped from the chair and cupped her hands closely, making a face as she concentrated. Tonraq smiled at Senna, who smiled back, but the expression quickly changed with the quiet "whoosh" and the yellow and orange life that was dancing in the palms of his daughter's hands.

Senna's dumbstruck expression, he had no doubt, mirrored his own, and she stuttered out "F-f…fire?" to which he could only stare dumbly back at her, then to Korra, then to his wife again.

Needless to say, they didn't end up going on their trip, instead contacting Katara immediately. The matriarch was quick about arriving, and she was also quite tactful, more tactful than Tonraq would have been, he had to admit, when she asked Korra for a bending demonstration.

"Okay," Korra'd said, with a shrug, and promptly stomped into a horse stance, pulling up a fraction of the floor as though she had done that before (Tonraq was around 99% sure that she had not, in fact, ever done that before).

"That one is new…" he managed quietly to Katara as she thanked Korra with a smile and walked away to speak with her parents.

"You have an Avatar on your hands," Katara smiled, this time the smile reaching her eyes and making them crinkle in the corners. "And quite a handful, at that. She's already quite adept, it looks like."

When pressed, a little later by a curious Tonraq, about how she figured out she could earthbend and firebend, Korra had merely shrugged and happily said "Naga showed me!" and that had been that, he didn't get another thing out of her. She apparently didn't think it needed more explanation, and Naga didn't really tell him anything, though he had secretly asked her one night, when he went out to feed her.

Tonraq made sure to take his daughter for a few other excursions after that. With a grasp of fire, water, and earth, their home, though they had told Korra multiple times, no bending in the house, had become a war zone and their daughter, privy to what an Avatar was and that she was, in fact, the next one, used every opportunity she could to remind them of that. So of course, there was no hiding it, and they sent notice to the White Lotus, as advised to do by Katara, though she had never told them when to do it. But they knew word would get out soon, considering how often their house would catch on fire or would suddenly jut up several feet in the air, because Korra finally figured out how to move lots of earth at once.

He knew his time with her was precious, then. It wouldn't take too long for the White Lotus to make their way to the South Pole, and so he squeezed as many excursions in as he could. Two with Naga, and one without. And on the one without, the last one he had with her, Tonraq felt the heartache of true love, and true loss. He had been right, all along, to think that his daughter was destined for great things. He had been right in feeling her strength, despite her tiny size, when she was born. He supposed he somehow knew, deep down. He had to have known, right? And yet the life he and Senna had built, with their balls-to-the-wall rambunctious daughter…the life they hoped to build, could no longer come to fruition, and he would be separated from his Korra much sooner than originally intended. The thought weighed heavy on his heart. Katara had told them of Aang's wishes for the new Avatar, her training, the isolation. He knew it would be for the best, but that didn't make the weight on his heart any lighter. Now his daughter had a truly great destiny, the greatest. But now she also had a very heavy burden to bear.

But for that day, she did not have to bear it. For that day, she was little Korra, happy and care-free and with her father to give Senna a little time to clean the house before the White Lotus' scheduled arrival in a little under a week (and boy, would she ever need that week!) For that day, she was his little girl, and he could not have been any prouder, watching his little Avatar running ahead of him.

No, he couldn't be any prouder.

* * *

_And there you have it, that's chapter, or I suppose, part, one! The next one will show what Korra was up to that week she kept disappearing on her parents, and then the next, will deal with Katara. I hope you guys enjoyed it!_

_I want to give a huge shout again to the two artists who helped inspire this part of the piece, tumblr users_ **_isaia_** _and_ _**only7korrafanarts**_, _and encourage you to check them both out!  
_

_Until next time, readers! Reviews are lovely and appreciated, but not required._


	2. Companion

_Hello all! I was browsing tumblr tags when I noticed today is apparently part of Korra Appreciation Week, and today specifically is to do with her animal companion, or as we all call her, Naga. So since this is already done, I figured I would go right ahead and get it up! _

_This is based on my own headcanon, which you may or may not accept, depending on your own! Regardless, I hope you all enjoy it! I don't own any of the characters, etc., I'm sure you all know the drill._

_Please understand that I haven't been a three or four year old child in quite some time, and my contact with them is limited, so if Korra's dialogue seems to advanced...that would be why._

_Happy reading!_

* * *

Korra didn't know what brought her out in the snow, but it brought her out there and she wasn't going to question it. She quite liked the snow. Her daddy had brought her out in the snow and ice for as long she could remember…it was as much home as her real home, practically! So she wasn't afraid of it, though she could feel that someone else was. And that someone needed her, whoever it was! So she hopped out of bed, guided by the full moon's light, and happily walked out her front door and out into the cold. She wasn't stupid, though! She'd wrangled on her coat (no easy feat without her father!) and hat and mittens, and two pairs of socks (just in case!) and boots. She was from the Southern Water Tribe, and no cold was gonna scare her, especially since her daddy taught her how to be ready!

It wasn't storming…in fact, it was pretty clear, by South Pole standards! There was a slight storm to the Northwest, which was where she headed. It wasn't a bad storm…bad storms were easy to spot, they looked like long gray clouds covering the normally white ground, and the winds from them could be felt from miles away. The storm that she could see was small, flurries, and was on its way out, probably, because she couldn't feel the wind. Her daddy would be pretty happy to know she had listened to him when he told her about the weather! So she happily carried on, over the snow, carefully bending it like her dad had shown her to make sure she didn't fall in it ("You never know how deep it is!") and following her instincts, though where they were leading her, she didn't know!

She wasn't sure how long it took her before she finally stopped, or how she knew how to stop, or where to stop, but she did, and after only a few moments of standing, she heard a quiet noise and saw a tiny movement in the otherwise still snow, that called her attention. She skirted over quickly, skimming over the snow as she neared the animal. It was little, maybe the size of her, but small, for its kind (at least, how big its kind was supposed to be, according to her daddy) and huddled into itself, shivering and making quiet, sad sounds. Korra frowned at it, dropping to her knees in front of the little thing to get a better look. It made a sad, what was supposed to be, Korra assumed, threatening growl, tensing as she got closer. She stopped, waiting for the animal to get more comfortable with her being there.

It was taking a while, though. The noise persisted, though it was quieter, and Korra tilted her head. "Are you okay?" she asked it, finally, as though it would answer. In a way, it did, whimpering softly. "Why are you all alone? Are you all alone?" she questioned, looking around. There were no tracks in the snow, blown away by the storm, probably, which she could still see in the distance, if she squinted really hard.

"Where are your brothers and sisters?" she tried again, to no avail. The animal eyed her warily, and Korra's frown deepened with concern. "Do you have any brothers or sisters? If you don't, don't feel bad, I don't either! I can be your sister!" she offered, happily smiling. When that didn't seem to cheer the poor little thing up, Korra pouted slightly, thinking. "Well, if you don't want a sister, I can at least be your friend!" she offered, plopping down entirely on her butt and sitting cross-legged right next to the poor little pup. "And friends tell each other what's wrong, so what's wrong?" she asked, quietly, leaning forward, testing the waters. The animal didn't growl this time, didn't really make any noise, so Korra quietly reached her hand out and started stroking the poor little thing's back. Its fur was warm, but she had no doubt that the little polarbear dog pup was cold. She just knew, and she didn't like it, not one bit.

"You're cold, huh? I can't give you my jacket, daddy says I can never take it off in the snow, it's dangerous." She said quietly, thinking to herself. She made up her mind quickly, and, without a second thought, draped herself over the young animal. "I'll keep you warm," she offered, smiling into the pup's fur as it made another sound. She wasn't sure if it was gratitude, or just giving up, but she refused to let go, cuddling over the animal and willing more and more of her body heat towards it. She wasn't sure if it worked, but she eventually felt better, a small twinge in her heart easing after some time in the snow, with her new friend. Eventually, though, she knew she would have to move. The moon was in the position it sometimes got in before it set and the sun rose, and she would have to be home for breakfast.

Breakfast!

"I bet you're hungry, too!" Korra suddenly burst out, making the little animal under her start. She felt its heartrate jump, and felt the muscles work slightly as the animal raised its head to look at her. She greeted it with a smile.

"If you promise not to move, I'll bring you some food! Daddy always gives me too many blubber nuggets and I usually just hide them in my sleeves, so I bet I can bring you some! But you have to promise not to move," she said, seriously, "In case I can't find you! And I don't want you to get cold…" she paused, thinking again.

"I know!" she said, standing quickly. The animal weakly protested, a quiet sound, but Korra quickly nestled it. "Don't worry, my daddy told me how to do this, and he's the best water bender I know!" and with that, she stepped back, braced herself, and pulled at the snow and ice, bending it into a small shelter, covering the poor little pup, which whimpered again. Korra knelt down, hugging the puppy again. "Don't worry, I know it's cold, but it will make sure you don't get any colder! My daddy said so and he's always right!" she smiled reassuringly. "I'll be back soon with food, just don't move!"

...

Slipping out wasn't entirely easy, but it wasn't hard, either. Her parents let her run around outside by herself sometimes, as long as one of them was watching from the window, and that morning was no exception. So with her sleeves full of nuggets, Korra attempted to leave, only to be thwarted when her mother noticed her starting to wander.

"Korra!" and Korra had winced, begrudgingly trudging back to the limits of her house. It took a while to give her parents the slip, but she did manage to do it, though later than she originally hoped. It was mid-afternoon by the time she managed to leave, and that meant that by the time she returned to her pup, following her instincts once again, she couldn't stay long, simply because she had to get back for dinner.

"I'm sorry!" she apologized immediately as she unloaded her sleeves into the little shelter she had created. "I have to go home, but I will come back, okay?" she asked, though the pup didn't respond. She ran her hand over the pup's fur, feeling its warmth. "I'll be back."

...

And back she came, as often as she could, with as many nuggets as she could, to help the poor thing. For several days she snuck away for as long as she thought she could get away with, to see and check on her poor little pup.

...

She went back in the middle of the morning, after about five days of checking in on her pup. The moon was still in the sky and the stars were out and could help guide her way. She was smarter, this time though! She grabbed an extra skin, to bring with her, and set off on Northwest, to find her polarbear dog pup. But this night wasn't as calm as the first one…a wind blew. And there was no sun from the daytime, like she had been using the last few days to help guide her. The wind was soft, at first, not enough to misplace much snow, but enough to make her worry, the chill sometimes cutting through her own coat, despite the extra skin. Would her pup be okay?

She found the little thing, curled in the shelter which wasn't doing as well at sheltering, in the wind that changed directions, occasionally hitting the pup instead of the shelter. Some of the nuggets were gone, but not all, and Korra quickly put the extra skin down, stomping on it to make sure it stayed in the right place, and melting part of the shelter. She tried to make it bigger, ultimately failing, her fear for the pup making it harder to bend. In the end, she gave up and quickly grabbed the extra skin, plopped herself down next to the pup, and covered them both.

It didn't take long for them both to be cold, and she knew it. The skin did little against the biting cold of the wind, and the pup was making the sad noises again. Korra huddled in closer.

"I'm sorry, daddy always says skins help, but there's too much wind!" she said, apologetically. "I'll try a shelter again, okay?" and she did. Or, she tried. She attempted to stand, but between the wind, trying to hold the skin, and trying to protect the animal, she found she couldn't stay on her feet. So she plopped herself down, tucked the skin in under the little polarbear dog, and swiftly moved her arms from where she sat, as she had seen her daddy do. After a few passes, she had managed to build a nice shelter, and a few more passes, and she had managed to close it, though there was a small opening at the top that was hard to manage. But just in stopping the wind, just like her daddy said, she felt warmer! And now that the skin wasn't being blown all over the place, she knew her pup did, too!

She smiled happily and nudged the puppy. "I did it! Daddy said I'll be a waterbender someday, like him!" The pup looked at her with watery eyes.

"Are you still sad?" Korra asked, frowning, concerned. "I don't have any more food right now, but I promise I'll bring you some later, okay?" she asked, but the pup merely whimpered and shivered.

"Oh no," Korra said, realization dawning. "Are you still cold?" she asked quietly, sadly. She reached out and ran her hand over the dog's fur, realizing that yes, the poor thing was still cold.

"I didn't bring anything to start a fire," she whispered, feeling tears prickling at her eyes. "I'm sorry! I didn't know there would be as much wind tonight," she sniffled, looking down at her lap. "I just want to help you," she told the pup, looking over at it. It looked back, watery eyes trained on Korra. And she looked back as well. There was little else she could do.

She reached out and ran her hand over the fur, feeling the puppy's heartbeat, and what little warmth was still coming from it. "You're sick, huh?" she said, quietly, sadly. The puppy's sad eyes looked back at her, and in that moment, Korra felt something inside of her that she hadn't ever felt before, ever, probably! It was like when her daddy had first taught her what bending was, and told her she could be a water bender…she had wanted to learn, right then, right there, right now! It was like a fire in her chest, but it was brighter now, even brighter than when she wanted to learn waterbending, and she could feel it, in that little heartbeat under her hand. She _had_ to do this. What, she wasn't sure, but she had to do something. She concentrated, as hard as she could, breathing in, quietly listening and trying to match her breath with that of her companion's.

"I think I got it!" she said, and with that little spark of hope and that little heartbeat still resonating in her hand, she brought her palms together…and ignited. The warmth licked her face, an actual, real flame dancing before her eyes.

"Naga!" the name, one from an old story her father had told her, came out of her mouth faster than she could even think, but once it was out, she didn't even feel like she had to change it. It was just right. Thrusting the fire towards the pup, she shouted "Look! I made this for you!"

The pup simply stared, but Korra thought she for sure saw a tiny smile dancing the tiny black eyes.

...

She returned home as the sun was rising, her mind already made up. She could not leave that little pup out there any longer. She couldn't, she wouldn't, leave Naga. They were meant to be together. They were friends and friends didn't let friends stay in the cold. And Naga had showed her something she didn't even know she could do!

So she set out around mid-day, not caring if her parents saw her or not. She was on a mission; it was as simple as that. She was going to get Naga.

Let them try and stop her.

* * *

_And so there you have it! I hope you enjoyed it...I was originally thinking to myself that Korra would find Naga (I think this is a popular headcanon), which lead to me thinking about how animal guides, though I don't think it's ever really been confirmed in-show (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, it's a been a while since I've watched the entirety of A:TLA or LOK) probably can help their benders learn the elements or, at the very least, can guide them in a way that only animals know how, to discover their abilities, be it specialized bending, avatar-level bending, etc. So I just went with it and explored the idea that Naga, and her need for protection, and her warmth, inspired the chi and fire that Korra needed to realize she could also firebend. _

_But of course, in-canon, that meant that Korra found Naga before her parents found out she was the avatar. And voila! This story came about. I'm quite satisfied with it, actually!_

_...I also have it in my head, if you read the last chapter, she also figured out earthbending thanks to Naga, but I haven't (yet) got a story for that one, though I'm sure it's a good one!_

_Anyway, one more chapter to go! As always, reviews are appreciated, but not necessary. :)_


	3. Cycle

_Wow, I just realized I totally forgot to finish up this story, I'm so sorry for the delay! This has been done for a while, so I hope you guys like it. This one is from Katara's perspective and will complete the fic. I sort of explored a slightly different possibility with the Avatar cycle: since generally babies aren't just born, they have to develop, I know that the soul is supposed to jump to this new life, but that would probably mean at conception, rather than birth, but it depends on a lot of things like your own personal philosophies, beliefs, etc. So I've just sort of jumped that and wondered if the Avatar just gets sicker for the last 9 months while their essence slowly grows into it's new form. So I went with that. And since Katara can sense essence/aura...well..._

_Disclaimer: I don't own either series nor the characters, etc, I'm just kind of in love with Korra. _

_I hope you guys enjoy it!_

* * *

Katara felt it the moment she put her hand on Senna's, Tonraq's wife, swollen belly. The aura was too familiar…it was one life slowly but surely passing onto the next, and it pained her as much as it gave her joy to feel it. She felt it growing in strength, instead of weakening, as it had been for weeks now, in another body, another lifetime. A power unmatched by anyone in the entire world, and how fitting, that it was starting where it would probably end.

Of course, there were other traits. The baby's body was healthy; strong, like Tonraq's. Built of muscle and heavy tissue, she already had a strong physical connection to world: it was palpable. She could already feel how different this one would be, from her husband. Very different indeed! She wasn't sure when the young baby was due, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know. There were some things that were better left simply to time, and this was one of them.

She agreed to read Tonraq and Senna's baby's aura because Tonraq had been nothing but an excellent leader in the Southern Water Tribe, and she appreciated anyone who could and did wholeheartedly accept the culture of the South. He was a great chief, and she had no doubt Sokka would have liked him. She also wanted to give them the good news: bender or nonbender, she knew it didn't matter to either of them what their child was…they had just so desperately wanted a child. A quiet life, she believed Senna had once told her, with a child who they could raise together, and wouldn't that be nice?

Oh, but they had bitten off way more than they could chew. What a hellraiser they had in store for them! She wondered if Senna could feel it, too. After all, this strength was growing inside of her, every day, but Katara also knew that she was far more experienced with feeling this…power. With feeling this familiarity.

She wanted to be happy, of course, and on some level, she was. It was nice to know that the cycle was continuing, though she'd never had any doubts about it doing so. It was nice to know that the next one was so strong, already! How lucky the world was that its next leader already felt like she could move mountains, if she wanted to! How amazing it was to feel this life beginning anew, so familiar yet so unique, so different. It was nice to know, it was nice to feel, and as a world leader, as a mentor, and as a master and teacher, Katara was excited.

But she was only human, and as such, she could not set aside her grief. She could not separate it, and so like darkness with spirits, it contaminated the joy she could feel coming from Tonraq and Senna. It contaminated the joy that came from the parts of her that were a world leader, a mentor, a master and a teacher. It pushed those sides of her down, because inside she was still Katara, wife of Avatar Aang for decades. For a lifetime. And soon…soon she would be the widow of Avatar Aang. Soon…though she knew it was coming (Aang was after all, technically, 100 years older than her), that didn't make it any easier. And she knew it wasn't rational, to feel that pang of hurt and blame towards this new life, growing and stealing the life of her husband. That wasn't it at all…Her husband would have had to have already been dying for this new life to be growing.

That didn't stop the iota of resentment that welled in her with her fears, her doubts, her sorrows and her grief. And that resentment was not constructive, she knew. It was very unlike her, but she had grown quite accustomed to Aang. Letting him go would not be an easy feat, but it would be one she would face, when the time came.

And when the time came, she would be happy to watch the cycle begin anew. She would be happy to watch the new one grow, grow into her power and grow into herself and realize her full potential. Find her own path, her own destiny. She would be happy for Senna and Tonraq, and sympathetic to them, for she understood, on many levels, what it's like to love an Avatar. And it's not easy. She would be the rock, the support that they would need while they adjusted. And she would teach the new Avatar, of course. Aang would trust no one else with the education of his successor in waterbending. When the time came, she would open her arms and welcome the new Avatar, because change is what life, water, and balance, were all about, and she knew that. Because part of her was a teacher, a mentor, a master, and a world leader, and when the time arrived, she would be ready.

But she wasn't ready. And so she couldn't stop the pain as it tore through her heart when she felt that aura anew. And she couldn't hide the pain as she brought herself to say the only words she could muster: "She's powerful" Because she was. She was so powerful. She was so full of light. And it pained Katara even more to know that her husband would die for this light, that this light was his.

But it wasn't his, not really, and she knew it. It was the light of every Avatar that had ever and would ever exist, and she knew that, deep down. However, she felt only pain when she finally looked up from Senna's belly and smiled, tight-lipped, at Tonraq, unable to muster sincerity in her eyes. And she only felt pain when she left them, happily hugging.

She would be the person the new Avatar needed her to be, and who the old Avatar would want her to be. But for now, and perhaps, for a while, she would grieve.

* * *

_And, thus ends the story! Let me know what you thought, if you'd like, it's up to you. Either way I hope it was a relatively smooth read for you guys! :)_


End file.
